Motor Sports

Australian Casey Stoner Wins Round Two of the MotoGP Events in Jerez, Spain

Stoner at post race press conference stated, "This was one of my best victories and very special for me. Our team played with the conditions and we gambled on the soft front tire with a positive result." (Photo Bobby Hsu/LSV)

Win ties the series with Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, setting the Stage for the grandest rivalry of all time.

Jerez, Spain; Nothing could stop Casey Stoner from winning the 2nd round of the MotoGP tour in Jerez after losing the 1st round to Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo in Qatar. Stoner rides for the revered Repsol Honda Team that won the championship title in 2011. Their newly designed Honda RC213V features the latest in advanced motorcycle technology boasting 230 horsepower and a 1000cc engine that tops out at 217 miles per hour. The match of Stoner aboard Honda’s new “weapon” would be the latest and largest worry for Yamaha Factory Racing, Ducati and the satellite teams.

Lorenzo for the second time and second year in a row won the pole position and would attempt his third straight win in Jerez before his countrymen. Stoner has never won a race in Jerez and would give it his all to take back the win from Lorenzo. Dani Pedrosa of the Repsol Honda Team was fit and ready for the start of his 100th race today.

Spots of rain on the track failed to stop the start of the race as Lorenzo, Stoner and Pedrosa took the lead away from seventeen riders including Valentino Rossi of Ducati, his 200th start today, Italian Andrea Dovizsioso, American Ben Spies and Nicky Hayden. Britain’s rider Cal Crutchlow would attempt a podium finish for his nation for the first time in twelve years.

It would be Stoner and the Honda that would prevail today, their choice of tires, suspension and set-up calculated with precision by their crew of mechanics and technicians that would score the victory. Stoner won and finished in 45 minutes, 33.897 seconds averaging 97.742 miles per hour with Lorenzo trailing by a mere 0.947 seconds. Pedrosa finished third 2.063 seconds behind the first place winner.

Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa have 41, 39 and 38 premier class wins with 81, 84 and 99 podium finishes respectively. Fifteen times they have shared the podium setting a record since the inception of grand prix racing in 1949. The 2012 MotoGP season is set for the biggest rivalry of all time as the trio ride, race and finish in spectacular fashion just milliseconds apart.

ical pain. In the last three years three racers have died. Marco Simoncelli, Shoya Tomizawa, Peter Lenn in 2011 and 2010.

There are no protective cages or shields in motorcycle grand prix racing and death comes quickly. Marco Simoncelli once said “I have lived more in one minute on the track that one lives in a lifetime.” The allure of danger, the adrenalin rush, the adulation of fans and a trophy finish are all too much to end his craft-until there are no more choices.

After race Lorenzo also stated: “The conditions were difficult and with the soft front tire I couldn’t catch Casey but this will be a close championship. We will do our best and not take a big risk. Only with constant effort can you maintain the championship.”

"I started well but was too calm in the beginning" was a comment from Pedrosa. (Photo by Bobby Hsu/LSV)

Pedrosa also made additional comments after the race and shared the following: “I made a big gap but fought back and stayed focused. I was able to pass Crutchlow and the bike had a nice set-up. I’m off to good start for the season. The championship will be interesting.”

Round 3 of the MotoGP tour heads to Portugal for the Grande Premio de Portugal Circuito Estoril.